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A VVarning for Swearers and Blasphemers. / Shewing Gods fearfull Iudgements against diuers for profaning his holy name by swearing. / Necessary to be set vp and read in euery house, for the auoiding of Oaths.University of California - Santa BarbaraThe Early Modern CenterEnglish Broadside Ballad Archive (EBBA)DirectorPatricia FumertonAssociate DirectorCarl G Stahmer?-?Early Modern Center, University of California Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA06/18/201434013

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Patricia FumertonEarly Modern Center - English DepartmentUniversity of CaliforniaSanta Barbara, CA 93105United States of AmericaEMail: pfumer@english.ucsb.edu

THou that these Lines dost eyther heare or reade, / Consider with thy selfe, and take hood heed.
Information in this section of the Source Description
refers to the original ballad manuscript.
1: 1174A VVarning for Swearers and Blasphemers. / Shewing Gods fearfull Iudgements against diuers for profaning his holy name by swearing. / Necessary to be set vp and read in euery house, for the auoiding of Oaths.A Warning for Swearers and Blasphemers. Showing God's fearful
Judgements against divers for profaning his holy name by swearing. Necessary to be set up and read in every house, for the avoiding of Oaths.?-?Francis Couls

A Warning for Swearers and Blasphemers.Shewing Gods fearfull Judgements against divers for profaning his holy name by swearing.Necessary to be set up and read in every house, for the avoiding of Oaths.

THou that these Lines dost eyther heare or reade,Consider with thy selfe, and take good heed.Reade them, and let them never be forgot.They doe concerne thy Soule, then sleight them not.Thea Fiendes of hell beleeve there is a God,And feare and tremble at his angry Rod:They doe confesse his glorious Excellence,And his almighty Powers Omnipotence.But Man his choysest, and his chiefest Creature,Is so rebellious against God and Nature,That he 'gainst Heav'n dares both blaspheme and swearAnd (worse then Fiends) they not beleeve or feare:So that the Earth doth breed, feed, and retaineWorse Monsters, then there doth in Hell remaine.If men beleev'd the word that God hath spoke,They would beleeve that word should nere be broke.In His enacted Lawb is one Decree,That all who take his Name in vaine, shall beAccounted guilty, and his fearefull wrathWill hold them worthy of eternall death.Againe, tis said, Letc the Blasphemer dye,Let him be stoned for his Blasphemy.And evil tongues, who dare to Curse adventer,Shall into Heavensd blessednesse not enter.And Christ (when on the eareth he lived here)Forbade us thate at all we should not sweare.And in th' eleventh of Deutronomony againe,We are commanded, not to sweare in vaine.Thef Heathen to blaspheme their gods abhorr'd,Yet Christians wilfully blaspheme the Lord.Whoever to revile the gods were knowne,In Rome, were from the Rocke Tarpeius throwne.Th' Egyptians Law was, he should lose his head.Mongst Scithians, life and goods were forfeited.These grievous punishments did Pagans useAgainst all them that did their gods abuse.King Donalds Law in Scotlands not forgot,Who burnt them through the lip[s] with [i]rons hot.And when King Edmond here had Regall state,All Swearers he did excommunicate.And Philip King of France (a Prince renownd)Ordain'd that all Blasphemers should be drownd.The Emperor Maximilian did decreeThat all vaine Swearers should beheaded be.The Earle of Flanders, Philip did ordaine,Their losse of life and goods, that swore in vaine.Saint Lewis the King of France, enacted thereThat for the first time any one did sweare,Into Imprisonment one moneth was cast,And stand within the Pillory at last.But if the second time againe they swore,One with an iron hot their tongues did bore.And who the third time in that fault did slipWere likewise boared through the under-lip.For the fourth time most grievous paines belongs,He caus'd to be cut off their lips and tongues.Henry the fift of England, that good King,His Court to such conformitie did bring,That every Duke should forty shillings payFor every oath he swore,without delay.Each Baron twenty, Knights or Esquiers offencePaid ten: and every Yeoman twenty pence.The Boyes and Pages all were whipt most fine,That durst abuse the Majesty divine.Thus Pagan Princes with sharpe Lawes with-stoodProfaning of their Gods of stone or wood.And Christian Kings and Rulers formerly,Have most severely punisht Blasphemy.And shal an Heathen or an Infidell,That knowes no joyes of heaven, or paines of hell,More reverenc to his devillish Idols show,Then we doe to the true God, whom wee know?If we remember well but what we were,And what we are, we would not dare to sweare.Poore trunkes of Earth; fill'd with uncertaine breath,By nature, heyres to everlasting death,Most miserable wretches, most ingrate'Gainst God, that did elect us, and create,Redeem'd, conserv'd, preserv'd, and sanctified,And gives us hope we shall be glorifide;H' hath given us being, life, sense, reason, wit,Wealth, and all things his providence thinkes fit:a James.b Exod. 20.c Leviticus 24.d 1 Cor. 6.10.e Matth. 5.f GOD himselfecomplaineth thatmen blasphemehim, Esay.52.5.The names ofblasphemy is writupon the 10 headsof Antichrist, A-poc. 13.1. Cursingis forbidden by[?] Apostle, when[?]ith, Blesse, Isay, and curse not. Rom.12.14. OurSaviour comman-deth us to blessethem that curseus, Matth. 5.44.Blesse them that curse you, & prayfor them whichhurt you, Luke6.28. Accustomenot thy mouth toswearing, for in itare many falls, nei-ther take up for a custome the na-ming of the holyOne, for thoushalt not bee un-punished for suchthings, Ecclesiasti-cus; 23.9. Theplague shall nevergo from the house of the swearer. Id.Who so swearesfalsly, calls theGod of Truth towitnes a lye. Who so sweares as heethinks, may be de-ceived. Who sosweares unreve-rently, dishonou-reth God. Who sosweares deceitful-ly, abuseth Chri-stian fidelity. Whoso sweares idlely,abuseth the creditof a lawfull oath.Who so swears ac-customably, Godwill plague.

And for requitall we (quite void of grace)Curse, sweare, and blaspheme him to his face.Oh the supernall patience of our God,That beares with man (a sin-polluted clod)When halfe such treasons 'gainst an earthly KingWould many a traytor to confusion bring!Suppose a man should take a Whelp and breed himShould stroake him, and make much of him, and feed himHow will that Curre love him beyond all other:Never forsaking him to serve another.Ant if hee should most disobedientlyInto his Masters face, or throat to flye,Sure every man that lives upon the ground,Would say, a hanging's fit for such a Hound.And worser then so many dogges are theyThat 'gainst their God with oaths doe barke and bray,And if Repentance doe not Mercie winne,They'll hang in Hell like Hell-hounds for their sinne.Of all blacke crimes from Belzebubs damnd treasure,This Swearing sinne no profit yeelds, nor pleasure:Nor gaines the Swearer here but Earths vexation,With change of his salvation for damnation.It is a sinne that yeelds us no excuse,(For what excuse can be for Gods abuse?)And though our other faults by death doe end,Yet Blasphemy doth after death extend,For to the damnd in Hell this curse is given,They for their paines blasphem'd the God of heaven.Examples on the earth have many beeneAs late in sundry places have beene seene.At Mantua two brave Ruffians in their game,Swore and blasphem'd our blessed Saviours Name,Where Gods just judgement (full of feare and dread)Caus'd both their eyes to drop from out their head.In Rome, a childe but five yeares old, that swore,Was snatcht up by the Devill, and seene no more.And at Ragouse, a Mariner did sweare,As if he would Gods name in sunder teare,When falling over-boord, was drownd and tost,And nothing but his tongue was only lost.Remember this you sinfull sonnes ofg Men,Thinke how that Christ redeem'd you from Hells den.His mercy he hath given in multitude,Requite him not with vile ingratitude:He made the Eare and Eye, and heares and seesThe Swearers execrable oaths and lyes.The Godhead of the Father they contemne,Against the Sonnes Redemption they blaspheme.The Holy Spirit grievously they grieve,And head-long into hell themselves they drive.It is in vaine for mortall men to thinke,Gods Justice is asleepe, although it winke.Or that his arme is shortned in these times,That hee cannot reach home to punish crimes.Oh thinke not so, tis but the Devils illusion,To draw us desperately to our confusion,Some say, that tis their anger makes them sweare,And oathes are out before they are aware:But being crost with losses, and perplext,They thinke no harme, but sweare as being vext:And some there are that sweare for complement,Make oathes their grace and speeches ornament,Their sweet Rhetoricall fine Eloquence,Their Reputations onely excellence.Their valour, whome the Devill doth inflameT' abuse their Makers and Redeemers Name.Thinke but of this, you that doe God forget,Your poore excuses cannot pay this debt.Remember that our sinfull soules did costA price too great to be by swearing lost.And blessed was our last good parliament,Who made an Act for Swearers punishment,And blest shall be each Magistrates good name,That carefully doth execute the same:Those that are zealous for Gods glory here,(No doubt) in heaven shall have true glory there.Which that we may have, humbly I imploreOf Him that rules and raignes for evermore,The Eternall Lord of Lords, and King of Kings,Before whose Throne blest Saints and Angels singsAll power, praise, glory, majesty, thansgiving,Ascribed be to him that's ever-living.g Elfred an Eng-lish Earle, conspi-ring to put out K.Adelstanes eyes atWinchester, for-sware the treasonin Saint PetersChurch at Rome,and fell downedead presently.Earle Godwin mur-thered Prince Al-fred brother toking Edward Con-fessor, and being atdinner, the Kingcharged him withthe murder, then Godwin swore bybread, and prayedit might choakehim if hee wereguilty, and imme-diately it choakedhim in the place:his lands also sunkinto the sea, & arecalled Godwin-sands. K. Stephenforsware himselfeto King Henry I.and lived in con-tinuall trouble, & died in perplexityof mind. Edward4. brake his oath,made at Yorke, that he came not withintent to seaze the Kingdome, andbreaking the oath,was punisht with atroublesom reign,his brethren andchildren all (ex-cept one) murthe-red: and not anyof his issue reign-ed after him. Roger Mortimer, agreat Peer of this land, for breaking his oath to KingEdward the 2. wasmost ignomini-ously hanged, bo-weld and quarte-red. M. Fox in hisBook of Martyrs,declares of one Ri-chard Long of Ca-lice, that forswarehimselfe to accuseone Smith for ea-ting flesh in Lent,after which oathLong went pre-sently and drown-ed himselfe. OneGrimwood at Hit-cham in Suffolkeforsware himselfe,and his bowellsburst out. One wi-dow Barnes, forthe like sinne casther selfe out of herwindow in Corn-hil, and brake hernecke. Anne Ave-ris forsware herselfe in Woodstreetfor sixe pound of Towe, desiringGod shee sinckedown, which fear-fully hapned: oneLea in Sunne-alleywithout Bishops-gate, forswore himselfe, & after riptout his guts.

Finis.I. T.Printed at London for Francis Couls, at the upper end of the Old Baily neere Newgate. 1626.